Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1991

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Quad Cities, IA

April 8, 1991Dubuque County, Jones County, Iowa

NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this tornado warning at Apr 8, 1991, 3:28 PM CDT for Dubuque County, Jones County, Iowa. It was in force for 32 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Apr 8, 1991, 3:28 PM CDT (20:28 UTC)
Expired
Apr 8, 1991, 4:00 PM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Quad Cities, IA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Dubuque County, IA, Jones County, IA

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 8, 3:44 PM CDTHail 0.75Dubuque, IA

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 12:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 338 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 1991-04-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 1991-04-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 38 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
892 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
38 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-21 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KDBQ 082028
TORDBQ
IAC061-105-082100-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DUBUQUE IA
328 PM CDT MON APR 8 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DUBUQUE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  400 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTHEAST IOWA
 
   ...DUBUQUE COUNTY...NORTHEASTERN JONES COUNTY
 
AT 325 PM RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 5 MILES EAST OF CASCADE
OR 20 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DUBUQUE. THE TORNADO WAS MOVING EAST 35 MILES
AN HOUR. SOME CITIES IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE BENARD AND
ZWINGLE.
 
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
NNNN

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 8, 2:42 PM CDT, 46 minutes before
IAZ008-ILZ001-WIZ018-082045-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DUBUQUE IA
242 PM CDT MON APR 8 1991

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL 9 PM CDT...
...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HEADING FOR THE TRI-STATE...

AT 230 CDT AN AREA OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED 15 MILES WEST
OF THE COUNTIES OF CLAYTON...DELAWARE AND JONES COUNTIES OR ABOUT 60
MILES WEST OF DUBUQUE.

THE AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR AND
WILL MOVE INTO THE COUNTIES OF CLAYTON...DELAWARE AND JONES COUNTIES
BETWEEN 300 PM AND 330 PM CDT.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE OF
PRODUCING STRONG GUSTY WINDS 45 TO 50 MILES AN HOUR...HEAVY
RAIN...SMALL HAIL AND DEADLY LIGHTINING.

IF Y-OUR IN THE PATH OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS SEEK SHELTER AT ONCE.

HINNERS

NNNN

The office that day

Everything else NWS Quad Cities, IA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 8, 2:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNClayton, Delaware64 min
Apr 8, 3:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNJackson, Jones40 min
Apr 8, 3:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNJackson62 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 1991Every tornado warning in 1991Tornadoes in 1991

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.